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What Plant Material Requires a

Permit?

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APHIS regulates the importation of plants, plant products, and other items that could

introduce plant pests into the United States. Regulated items include plants for

planting; seeds; plant products such as fruits and vegetables, timber, cotton, and cut

flowers; protected plants and plant products; threatened and endangered plant

species; plant material for research; and more.

How To Find Plant and Plant Product

Requirements

The requirements for importing plants and plant products vary depending on the

specific commodity and the country of origin. They may also change over time or if

there is an outbreak of a certain pest or disease in a country.

You can look up the requirements for specific commodities in our Agricultural

Commodity Import Requirements (ACIR) database.

Did You Know These Items Are Regulated?
You may not realize that certain commodities pose a plant pest risk or are protected

and are therefore regulated. Some examples are:

Fresh fruits and vegetables

Plants for planting

All seeds for planting and some seeds for consumption

Protected plants and plant products (such as orchids)

Plants and seeds of certain threatened or endangered species

Cut flowers and bouquets

Cotton and cotton products (not including yarn, thread, or cloth)

Wood and wood products, including:

Logs, lumber, and other unmanufactured wood products

Handicrafts from China that are made of or include wood, including

carvings, baskets, boxes, bird houses, rustic garden and patio furniture,

potpourri, artificial trees, trellis towers, garden fencing and edging, picture

frames, holiday decorations, pens and pencils, wooden decorative

collectibles, and wooden utensils

Soil, soil amendments, and rocks

Always Check With APHIS

The list above includes some less commonly known regulated plant products. It is

not a complete list of all regulated plants and plant products. Be sure to check the

ACIR database or our commodity import manuals for your commodity.

Learn More

Find more information about importing plants and plant products on our how to

import page.

Why Does APHIS Regulate Plant Products?

Many plant pests and diseases that could harm our Nation’s agricultural and natural

resources do not exist in the United States. Plants and plant products can carry

these pests and diseases into our country. In some cases, the plant or commodity

itself may be a pest (for example, noxious weeds, parasitic plants, and pest

organisms). Our regulations safeguard U.S. plant health by keeping pests and
diseases out of the United States.

The risk to U.S. agriculture is real. For example, rice plants are attacked by many

pests and diseases. If one of these pests enters the United States, it could cause

extreme damage to the billion-dollar U.S. rice industry. U.S. forest resources are also

at risk. For instance, APHIS has found destructive wood-boring insects in artificial

Christmas trees made with real wood trunks. These insects are similar to the Asian

longhorned beetle, an invasive pest we're fighting to eliminate in several States.

There are no treatments that will kill these insects once they attack a tree, so the

tree must be cut down and the wood destroyed.

In addition, many plants are protected under the Convention on International Trade

in Endangered Species (CITES) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). To uphold

these laws and support plant health conservation, APHIS enforces regulations for the

import and export of endangered plant species.